FERMENTED FEEDS...anyone using them?

[mainechicklet]

I was stirring it according to TikkTok's "several times a day". But I'll stop that and stir it once/day. When I put up my Christmas tree on the enclosed back porch, the water freezes, so I'm probably going to keep the ff either in the pantry or downstairs (almost finished lower level). So what is your recommended temp range for proper fermentation?

 

[Beekissed]

I've found it can still be 50* in a room and still get good, active fermentation. Anything about 65* and you get a quicker ferment, meaning you will need to refresh the feed more often to keep the smell down a bit.

I'll have to talk to TikkTok about that...I've heard others say they have to stir it that often and I wondered where they got that info.

 

[mainechicklet]

And when you say "refresh the feed", do you mean just add more feed and water (keeping the same consistency) to whatever you're brewing?

Per TikkTok's article:

Water + feed + 3 to 4 days for initial ferment. Whatever you’re feeding now- ferment that. Add some water, stir, wait 3 to 4 days, stirring a few times a day. That’s really all there is to it.

But she also quotes you as a once/day stirrer.

 

[Beekissed]

And when you say "refresh the feed", do you mean just add more feed and water (keeping the same consistency) to whatever you're brewing?

Per TikkTok's article:

Water + feed + 3 to 4 days for initial ferment. Whatever you’re feeding now- ferment that. Add some water, stir, wait 3 to 4 days, stirring a few times a day. That’s really all there is to it.

But she also quotes you as a once/day stirrer.

Yep...when the bucket gets almost done and you've still got a scoop of feed left in it, just add fresh feed and water, stir it up, let it sit...should have good ferment by the next day because you've got a good culture already going and it will spread like crazy through the fresh fluid and be absorbed into the feed. Faster fermentation than the initial one, so you can feed that out the next day....I can start feeding mine out that same evening in warm weather.

 

[Tikkijane]

I've found it can still be 50* in a room and still get good, active fermentation.  Anything about 65* and you get a quicker ferment, meaning you will need to refresh the feed more often to keep the smell down a bit. 

I'll have to talk to TikkTok about that...I've heard others say they have to stir it that often and I wondered where they got that info. 

" Add some water, stir, wait 3 to 4 days, stirring a few times a day."

And then there's an actual section on this that I added after we talked ..

"Do I have to stir it?

I do. I like to mix it all around; making sure my SCOBY gets consistently distributed throughout the batch. I know folks who don’t, and have no issues. I’ve heard of folks who didn’t stir the initial ferment for a few days and ended up with some black and green mold. I don’t quite know how that happened, since it usually takes a lot longer than 2 days to get mold, but it was some ugly stuff.

How about, there is no harm in stirring.  If you have a very dry mix, stirring helps keep it moistened. In my case, as you’ll see in pictures below, I usually end up with a juicy layer in the middle, which I like to mix around to even out the consistency before I feed.

Our primary resident expert, Bee, says, ” ……stir at least once a day when ambient temps are very warm and humid. I only stir mine once a day right before I feed and when I’m gone for days it doesn’t get stirred at all and it doesn’t grow mold but it does grow the fuzzy white yeast.”

 

I think I ended up stirring maybe 3x a day- that was to get things mixed back around on initial ferment. Now, I stir before I feed and of course, when I'm adding to make my next backslopped batch. We reworked that section to show the ease and variety of methods folks use sucessfully.

 

[lazy gardener]

I keep 2 buckets going (for ease with feeding) instead of one large bucket. That way, in the morning, I just grab a bucket and head out the door with it, instead of having to scoop feed out of a 5 gal. bucket. They get about 1/2 - 2/3 of that smaller bucket in the morning, and sometimes more from that bucket in the evening, depending on how much other stuff they've munched on. Sometimes, I shove the spoon around in the second bucket, when I'm dealing with the first. Occasionally, other than the initial mixing, it doesn't get stirred at all. It's still good, still bubbles, never had any kind of mold issues. I don't mind the smell of the ferment at all, but my hubby prefers not to have to smell it, and my GS finds it downright gaggable. Just depends on how your smeller is hooked up! So, I keep it in the laundry room during the winter and move it out to the garage during the summer.

 

[odysseychicken]

I was going to post the same question. I started a batch Friday afternoon. While I am getting the sour smell I still have no bubbles at all. I guess I will just let it go a bit longer. Our house is definitely conducive to this process sine we have had the same wild sourdough mother going for about five years now. Although there is a lot of debate as to whether the yeast is present in the flour or the air.

I did give the girls a spoonful tonight just to see how they would react to it. They seemed to like it.

 

[Beekissed]

I don't see bubbles any longer myself. Usually those happen in warm weather and in feed that is very fine, like the chick starter. Also, if you stir often, you are letting that gas out of the mix so no need for bubbles to even form. If you stop stirring for a day and come back to it the next day, you may find all kinds of little holes in the surface of the feed where bubbles have risen to the surface to escape.

I'd not worry about bubbles and just go by smell...if you have a sour smell, you have acetic acid being produced as a by product of grain fermentation. I'd just start feeding when you smell that sour smell.

 

[21hens-incharge]

Yep...when the bucket gets almost done and you've still got a scoop of feed left in it, just add fresh feed and water, stir it up, let it sit...should have good ferment by the next day because you've got a good culture already going and it will spread like crazy through the fresh fluid and be absorbed into the feed. Faster fermentation than the initial one, so you can feed that out the next day....I can start feeding mine out that same evening in warm weather.

I found this to be very true at my house too.

I stir just before I feed and so far have not had any nasty molds form.

Yes it has an odor for certain. I find it gaggable too lol. The chickens do not seem to find it gaggable though.

 

[Leigti]

Well, it has been three days now. And they have not touched it. They have been locked in the coop with nothing else in there but water. I give them a fresh spoonful each morning. And they won't eat it. It has a sour smell not a rotten smell so I think it is still good. But I'm getting worried, I don't want to starve them or make them sick. They are molting so they need some food. I will leave it in there overnight again. But should I just give it up and let them out tomorrow or should I keep trying?